Ercaf News

THURSDAY, Nov. 10, 2016 – People who get little sleep are likely to drink significantly more sugar-sweetened and caffeinated beverages, a new study finds. The findings suggest that improving sleep could help reduce people's sugar intake, according to researchers from the University of California, San Francisco. They analyzed data from nearly 19,000 American adults. Those who regularly slept five or fewer hours a night drank 21 percent more sugar-sweetened, caffeinated beverages like soda and energy drinks than those who slept seven to eight hours a night. People who regularly slept six hours a night consumed 11 percent more of the drinks than those who got more sleep. Researchers said they didn't know whether sugary drinks cause people to sleep less, or whether sleep deprivation leads them to consume more sugar and caffeine to stay awake. Previous studies suggest both could be true. ... Read more

FRIDAY, Oct. 21, 2016 – Why can some people enjoy a cup of coffee just before bed and sleep peacefully, while others lie awake for hours? A new study suggests genes may hold the answer. "Each of us could be potentially responding to caffeine differently, and it's possible that those differences can extend beyond that of caffeine," said study author Marilyn Cornelis. She is an assistant professor in the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. In earlier research, Cornelis linked variations in genes to patterns of coffee consumption. In the new study, she looked for connections between these gene variations and chemicals that appear in the blood after people consume caffeine. She found that gene variants linked to lower levels of caffeine chemicals – which suggest faster caffeine metabolism – are the same variants previously ... Read more

THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2016 – Eating a Mediterranean diet and consuming caffeine may lower your chances of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness, according to a new study. Previous research has shown that a Mediterranean diet – high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, healthy fats and fish – benefits the heart and lowers cancer risk. But there has been little research on whether it helps protect against eye diseases such as AMD, the researchers noted. Using questionnaires, the researchers assessed the diets of 883 people, aged 55 and older, in Portugal. Of those, 449 had early stage AMD and 434 did not have the eye disease. Closely following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a 35 percent lower risk of AMD, and eating lots of fruit was especially beneficial. The researchers also found that people who consumed high levels of caffeine ... Read more

MONDAY, Oct. 17, 2016 – Contrary to common belief, coffee doesn't seem to increase the risk of irregular heartbeats in people with heart failure, according to a small Brazilian study. "Our data reassures that most patients with heart disease might drink moderate doses of caffeine-rich beverages with no major risks," said lead researcher Dr. Luis Rohde. He's from the division of cardiology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre. Caffeine-rich beverages have long been suspected of causing several heart-related symptoms, such as palpitations or rapid or irregular heartbeats, Rohde said. "Because of this assumption, counseling to reduce or avoid caffeine consumption is still widely recommended in clinical practice by most physicians for patients with any heart disease," he said. But Rohde's team found no link between caffeine and abnormal heartbeats in the short ... Read more

-- Your habits just before you slip into bed could be sabotaging your night of sleep. The National Sleep Foundation says do NOT: Take any over-the-counter medications that contain pseudoephedrine, found in common cold medicines, which can keep you awake. Opt for a nighttime formula that may help you feel drowsy. Text, watch TV or spend time on the computer shortly before bed. Take a hot shower or bath just before bed. It's best to do so about an hour before you plan to sleep, as that gives your body temperature time to drop again. Indulge in a greasy, fattening, salty bedtime snack, which can be stimulating and trigger nightmares. Drink caffeine beyond the morning, as it can stay in your system for as long as 12 hours. Read more

FRIDAY, Sept. 9, 2016 – Coffee may stain your teeth, but its health benefits outweigh that problem, dental experts say. Research suggests that java may help protect the liver; reduce risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes; boost metabolism; and keep your brain sharp, according to the Academy of General Dentistry. There's also early evidence that coffee may help protect teeth by preventing bone loss in the jaw, noted the academy, which has members in the United States and Canada. "Coffee in moderation has many nutritional benefits," said Nasir Bashirelahi in an academy news release. He's a professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. But if the thought of stained teeth concerns you, there are things you can do to minimize or prevent discoloration, the academy says. For instance, sip through a straw to reduce the amount of coffee that touches your teeth. And rinse ... Read more

THURSDAY, Aug. 25, 2016 – Anybody up for a steaming cup of Joe? Turns out your DNA may hold the answer. New research suggests that your genes influence how much coffee you drink. Researchers analyzed genetic data from more than 1,200 people in Italy, who were asked how much coffee they drank each day. Those with a gene variant called PDSS2 drank one cup less a day on average than those without the variation, the investigators found. Research involving more than 1,700 people in the Netherlands yielded similar findings, according to the study authors. The findings suggest that PDSS2 reduces cells' ability to break down caffeine. That means it stays in the body longer. The upshot: People with the gene variant don't need as much coffee to get the same caffeine hit as those without it, the researchers said. "The results of our study add to existing research suggesting that our drive to ... Read more

THURSDAY, June 16, 2016 – Caffeine no longer improves alertness or mental performance after a few nights of sleep restriction, according to a new U.S. military study. "These results are important, because caffeine is a stimulant widely used to counteract performance decline following periods of restricted sleep," said lead author Tracy Jill Doty. She is a research scientist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md. "The data from this study suggests that the same effective daily dose of caffeine is not sufficient to prevent performance decline over multiple days of restricted sleep," Doty said in an American Academy of Sleep Medicine news release. The study included 48 healthy volunteers whose sleep was limited to five hours a night for five nights. The participants took either 200 milligrams of caffeine or an inactive placebo twice a day. (An average cup of ... Read more

TUESDAY, May 31, 2016 – If you suffer from migraines, your spouse probably suffers, too. That's the conclusion of researchers who surveyed more than 4,000 people with the debilitating headaches and their spouses/domestic partners. "This study highlights the significant burden that migraine can have on a wide range of family activities, parenting responsibilities, spousal relationships and family finances," said lead author Dawn Buse, director of behavioral medicine at Montefiore Headache Center in New York City. More than two out of five people with migraines and 23 percent of their spouses/partners said they believed the person with migraines would be a better parent if they did not have the condition. About half of the people with migraines had missed at least one family activity in the past month because of a migraine, the study found. About one-third of migraine sufferers and 21 ... Read more

-- A headache is generally recognized as having pain or discomfort anywhere in the head, scalp or neck. It can be a symptom of everything from minor stress to a life-threatening stroke. Learning all you can about your condition is a first step on the road to treatment and prevention. The National Headache Foundation suggests: Learn as much a possible, such as what's probably causing your headaches and how to prevent them. Focus on the most important questions, and get answers to less important questions later. Voice any concerns or fears about your headaches to your doctor. If you don't understand something, ask the doctor for an explanation. Read more

TUESDAY, May 17, 2016 – A new study sheds light – literally – on a potential means of easing migraine pain. Researchers in Boston exposed 69 migraine patients to different colors of light. They found that while blue light exacerbated headache pain, a narrow spectrum of low-intensity green light significantly reduced light sensitivity. In some cases, this green light also reduced migraine pain by about 20 percent, the researchers found. They noted that migraine headache affects nearly 15 percent of people worldwide, and a frequent symptom of migraine is light sensitivity, also known as photophobia. "Although photophobia is not usually as incapacitating as headache pain itself, the inability to endure light can be disabling," study author Rami Burstein, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said in a medical center news release. "More than 80 percent of migraine attacks ... Read more

THURSDAY, April 28, 2016 – The food you eat and the medicines you take can alter your gut bacteria in ways that either help or harm your health, two new studies suggest. Foods like fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea, wine, yogurt and buttermilk can increase the diversity of bacteria in a person's intestines. And that diversity can help ward off illness, said Dr. Jingyuan Fu, senior author of one of the studies. "It is believed that higher diversity and richness [in gut bacteria] is beneficial," explained Fu. She is an associate professor of genetics at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. On the other hand, foods containing loads of simple carbohydrates appear to reduce bacterial diversity in the gut, Fu and colleagues found. These include high-fat whole milk and sugar-sweetened soda. In addition, medications can also play a part in the makeup of your gut bacteria. Antibiotics, ... Read more

FRIDAY, April 1, 2016 – Drinking coffee may cut your risk of colon cancer by as much as 50 percent, a new study suggests. The more you drink, the more you may reduce your risk – and it makes no difference whether the coffee is regular or decaf, researchers said. "The protective effect is not caffeine, per se, but probably a lot of other antioxidant ingredients in the coffee that are released in the roasting process," said senior researcher Dr. Gad Rennert. He is director of the Clalit National Israeli Cancer Control Center in Haifa, Israel. These findings can't prove that coffee reduces the risk of colon cancer, only that coffee is associated with a reduced risk, Rennert said. However, the association appears strong, he added. "For years we were not sure if coffee was dangerous. Today we have evidence that that's not the case, that actually coffee is good for you," he said. For the ... Read more

FRIDAY, March 25, 2016 – A couple's risk of miscarriage may rise when the woman or man consumes more than two caffeinated drinks a day in the weeks leading up to conception, a new study suggests. Risk of miscarriage also may increase if the mother-to-be drinks more than two caffeinated beverages daily during the first seven weeks of pregnancy, the researchers found. Caffeine has been linked to greater risk of miscarriage before, but what is new in this study is that men's caffeine consumption also appears to play a role, said Janis Biermann, senior vice president for education and health promotion at the March of Dimes. Biermann was not involved with the study. And the degree of risk was similar for both sexes, the study authors said. "Behaviors before pregnancy can impact pregnancy," said Biermann. "When you are planning a pregnancy, it's a good time to get your body ready – reduce ... Read more

THURSDAY, March 3, 2016 – People who drink a lot of coffee may have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), a new large study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 6,700 adults, those who downed about six cups of coffee a day were almost one-third less likely to develop MS than non-drinkers were. And the link was not explained away by factors such as people's age, education or income levels, or smoking and drinking habits. Still, experts stressed that the findings do not prove that coffee, or big doses of caffeine, fight MS. Nor is anyone suggesting that people drink more java to ward off the disease, said lead researcher Anna Hedstrom, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. She said the findings do add to evidence that coffee "may have beneficial effects on our health" – but there is no way to make any specific recommendations. Elaine Kingwell, a ... Read more